MILNEWS.ca Blog

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – May 20, 2013

milnewsca — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:45:03 +0000

Afghanistan (1) “A team of 15 Canadian soldiers has been dispatched to Kandahar on a month-long assignment to assess whether dozens of military containers are still seaworthy enough to be brought home. More than 375 shipping containers full of military supplies remain stranded at Kandahar Airfield nearly 18 months after Canada’s withdrawal from the war-torn province, and almost two years since combat operations ceased. National Defence says the material is considered low priority and that all high-value and sensitive equipment has been returned to Canada. A spokeswoman for the country’s operational command, Capt. Jennifer Stadnyk, said certification of as many as 150 of the containers has expired and the technical assistance team will have to access whether they can still meet the standards set out by international shipping companies. Defence sources said if the containers don’t pass, the military will have to find a way to dispose of the material. The seemingly endless delay in repatriation of the containers, which were supposed to travel overland, was brought on by the extended closure of the Afghan border with Pakistan ….”
Afghanistan (2a) “Since I last wrote, we hosted “The Mother of all Visits”. That’s when the new US Secretary of Defence, the Honourable Chuck Hagel (and Sergeant (Retired), US Army, as he signed himself in the guest book), visited the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC). As a former soldier, he was particularly interested in Afghan National Army (ANA) Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) training and was briefed, by the Afghan instructors themselves, on KMTCs Battle Staff NCO course (which trains NCOs to work in deployed Tactical Operations Centres, or TOCs), and the ANA Sergeant-Major Academy (SMA), home to the ANAs premiere NCO training course. Secretary Hagel came away with a good understanding of ANA NCO training…as well as a Royal Canadian Artillery coin, courtesy of yours truly. Security, as you’d imagine, was tight, but working with the ANA – we had very good plan in place ….”
Afghanistan (2b) “As an advisor with the NATO training mission in Afghanistan, I advise personnel at the Afghan National Army Regional Military Hospital as a mentor in intensive care. Since 2007, successive American and Canadian teams have been going there to train and advise the staff of this hospital, and as a member of the last advisory team I am in a unique position to describe all the work being done there. I was able to witness their effectiveness only a few days after my arrival. One of my first visits to that hospital took place the day following a suicide attack several kilometres from our position in which a dozen people were injured. I expected to see the worst: an emergency room in turmoil, an operating room with overworked surgeons, an intensive care unit operating at full tilt to stabilize potentially critical patients. To my great surprise, however, I saw nothing of the sort: the emergency room and operating room were deserted, one member of the maintenance staff finished mopping the floor while another restocked the cupboards ….”
Afghanistan (3) “…. NATO nations should move quickly to define the Alliance’s role in Afghanistan after the end of its combat mission next year and legislators should begin to prepare public opinion for a long and costly operation to fund Afghan forces following the transition, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly heard Sunday ….”
Mali “NATO has a fleeting opportunity to come to the aid of strife-torn Mali, parliamentarians from NATO nations and experts warned Sunday. Possible measures to help stabilize Mali included officer training in the ill-equipped army and providing air transport as the rainy season hampers the deployment of troops to insurgent areas in the north, members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly were informed during the Assembly’s spring session in Luxembourg ….”
Way Up North “Why everyone wants a piece of the Arctic: In temperature and politics, the Arctic has never been hotter. As other nations try to get in on the action, Canada is gearing up for a fight ….“
“Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney is preparing to lead a delegation to South Korea next week, despite bloodcurdling threats by North Korea against its neighbour. Blaney and a group of 36 veterans of the Korean War are to leave this weekend for a commemorative tour of battlefields and cemeteries. He says Foreign Affairs is keeping a close eye on the Korean peninsula, where North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has been threatening nuclear war against South Korea and the United States. Blaney adds that the South Korean government hasn’t raised any red flags over the trip. The five-day visit commemorates Canada’s contribution to the 1950-53 Korean War ….”
“On behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie, the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification) and Member of Parliament for Blackstrap, paid tribute (Saturday) to Canada’s Veterans by participating in a ceremonial puck drop at the Memorial Cup tournament in Saskatoon ….”
Wanted: someone “…. To provide deployed logistics support services to IROQUOIS, HALIFAX, PROTECTEUR, KINGSTON, VICTORIA and miscellaneous classes of naval vessels assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic, Maritime Forces Pacific, and assigned support staff, deployed within the geographical areas described below. Services are to be provided on an as and when required basis ….”
Wanted: “…. The Contractor is required to provide the Department of National Defence with commercial off-the-shelf Deployable Climate Control Shelters System (DCCSS). The DCCSS must be a modular shelter system consisting of individual small and large sized shelters, interconnecting pieces and the necessary supporting systems. Each shelter must be equipped with an independent heating, cooling and lighting system. The shelters have to be delivered to four delivery points located within 300 km from Ottawa, Ont ….”
Wanted: “…. the contractor will perform a review on existing literature on automatic target cueing (ATC) in visible and infrared spectrum methodologies and technologies based on imagery. Based on the requirement, to perform studies and analysis to determine the feasibility of performing highly accurate ATC in visible and infrared spectrum in military operations. The military operations are (i) ATC in small arm operations at standoff distance up to 600m; and (ii) short range ATC at standoff distance below 100m ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – May 18, 2013

milnewsca — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:00:51 +0000

Afghanistan It appears Canada’s CDS did attend the big meeting in Belgium “The Chief of the Defence Staff, General Tom Lawson, joined his North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) counterparts this past week for the 169th meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting provided the Chiefs of Defence of NATO and its Partners with an opportunity to review and discuss updates on a number of issues relevant to the Alliance …. The two-day conference focused on NATO Transformation and the progress made in its Connected Forces Initiative and Smart Defence projects. Discussion also covered NATO’s current major operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, as well as the planning for NATO post the 2014 mission in Afghanistan ….”
“All charges against a Nova Scotia woman in the Royal Canadian Navy who is fighting cancer, and who was charged with being absent without leave, have been dropped, the woman and her lawyer say. “I feel fantastic, I feel vindicated, it’s been a long 11 months. Between having to face a court martial and fighting cancer, some days I didn’t know which one was more difficult. But now I can just focus on getting better,” said Able Seaman Carol Anne Deyoung. Both Deyoung and her lawyer, Maj. Sarah Collins, said the charges were dropped Friday afternoon. The Department of National Defence confirmed Friday evening that all charges against Deyoung have been dropped ….”
“Lights, action, weapons free. Canada’s special operations forces soldiers have produced a slick sales video showcasing their fighting skills — on water, in the air and room-by-room in the close confines of a building. At a time when special forces soldiers are in the limelight with movies like Zero Dark Thirty, which tells the tale of the U.S. hunt for Osama bin Laden, the video gives a brief window into Canada’s cadre of shadow warriors. The three-minute video begins showing six soldiers climbing aboard a Griffon helicopter, flying low, and then rappelling to a rooftop. It goes on to highlight soldiers parachuting from a C-130J Hercules transport at high altitude, speeding along the water in rigid-hull inflatable boats, and driving in what appear to be specially equipped Humvees ….” You can check out the video here.
Meanwhile, a less-than-desirable video pops up …. “A stolen iPhone and a sex tape that’s been circulating for three years has left a young woman’s military career in ruins. Alexandra-Kim Martin-Roberge joined the Canadian Forces in May 2009, dreaming of serving in the infantry. One of only two women in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, the Quebecer had planned to join the combat mission in Afghanistan. But one indiscretion destroyed her reputation, her self-esteem and her integrity in the eyes of comrades. In 2010, while on a 12-month assignment in Alberta, a fellow soldier stole her smart phone and copied a 13-minute clip that depicted her having sex, her face clearly visible. “He managed to take my phone during a patrol,” Martin-Roberge told QMI Agency. “Ten days later I found out all the guys were swapping it. It was like an atomic bomb. For a woman in the infantry, this is the worst thing that can happen.” ….”
“By the shore of Hudson Bay (background), just south of Churchill, Man., Cpl Réjean Lefebvre (middle-ground) and Sgt Steven Amos (foreground) prepare to drop rescue equipment from the back of a CC-130 Hercules to Royal Canadian Air Force personnel who had already parachuted to the ground to help mock victims on the frozen tundra. They are members of the 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron’s search and rescue team, based at 8 Wing in Trenton, Ont., who participated in TigerEx 2013, a week-long exercise to hone their Far North lifesaving skills. The annual search and rescue exercise took place May 13-17 ….”
From the RCAF Info-machine: “Therapy on wheels: healing the wounds of war through art“
F-35 Tug o’ War Mark Collins on “Will the Canadian Government Keep the RCAF’s Hornets Buzzing?”
DND Info-machine’s latest Backgrounder on Aboriginals in the Forces
From the Halifax Shipping News blog: “Work is continuing on HMCS Athabaskan, though it appears they are only tending to her holes now ….”
“On behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister for La Francophonie, the Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification) and Member of Parliament for Blackstrap, will pay tribute to Canada’s Veterans by participating in a ceremonial puck drop during the Memorial Cup tournament (tonight)….”
“The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs), (yesterday) announced increased support for regional security projects in the Caribbean that well help to improve security in the hemisphere and fight the problem of organized crime. Canadian support will help to equip the Regional Security System (RSS), a collective security organization for the eastern Caribbean, with new radar, infrared scanners and avionics for its air wing. Minister Ablonczy made the announcement at the E.T. Joshua Airport in Kingstown and was joined by partners including Ralph Gonsalves, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, National Security, Grenadines Affairs and Legal Affairs, and Grant Watson, Executive Director of the RSS ….”

What’s Canada Buying? – May 17, 2013

milnewsca — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:00:07 +0000

“Intense competition for U.S. military contracts is driving down prices, but the head of flight simulator and training company CAE isn’t worried. The Montreal-based company recently lost a hotly contested bid to supply a training system for the U.S. air force’s new KC-46 tanker. CAE chief executive Marc Parent said the tanker contract, which was awarded to FlightSafety, also attracted bids from L-3, Lockheed Martin and Boeing. “Clearly everybody wants to win in the military. So, it does become at some point, as it was in KC-46, a price shootout, but I feel very good about our ability to win,” Parent said Thursday after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. He said CAE has about $2.1 billion of outstanding contract bids that should allow it to sustain its business. “I don’t think we’re going to shoot the lights out, but neither do I think we’re going to go down that much,” he told analysts ….”
Wanted: someone to destroy the CF’s “155mm Dual Purpose Individual Cluster Minitions (DPICM) Projectiles” - more details in original Statement of Work here
“…. To assist in the training of military members, the Department of National Defence (DND) is looking at a potential procurement of a weapon simulator system to be used with both live and virtual fire training scenarios ….” - more details in the bid document here
“…. The Department of National Defence (DND), in support of the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), has a requirement to procure Weapon Sights. The requirement is for the replacement of stock of front and rear sights for Sig Sauer handguns ….”
Wanted: someone to build an HQ building for 91 Construction Engineer Flight at CFB Gander for ~$5M
“…. The Department of National Defence requires a reliable, secure and automated web-based notification service. The service must leverage multiple means of communications such as phone numbers and email addresses to provide rapid notifications to a large user base ….”
F-35 Tug o’ War (1) From the LockMart info-machine: “The latest in a series of Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35A high angle of attack (AOA) testing was recently completed. The testing accomplished high AOA beyond both the positive and negative maximum command limits, including intentionally putting the aircraft out of control in several configurations ….”
F-35 Tug o’ War (2) That said …. “Lockheed Martin Corp. said the federal sequester of spending on programs could delay its F-35 program. Reuters reported the program would be hampered by a plan to have 800,000 civilian Department of Defense employees take 11 unpaid leave days. Those workers play a role in testing for the F-35, which is scheduled to be deployed for a training mission at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale.”
F-35 Tug o’ War (3) AUS military seems convinced, too “Lockheed Martin Corp is well on the way to fixing the F-35s performance and helmet problems, Australian military chiefs said on Thursday, rejecting criticism the troubled jet will be overmatched by newer Russian and Chinese aircraft. In testimony to parliament on the F-35, for which Australia is one of the largest international buyers with plans for up to 100, Australia’s air force chief Air Marshal Geoff Brown said rivals were years behind the Lightning II’s development ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – May 17, 2013

milnewsca — Fri, 17 May 2013 11:45:28 +0000

“Peruvian Defence Minister, Pedro Cateriano, met Ambassador of Canada to Peru, Patricia Portier, to further strengthen defence and security cooperation. The meeting was attended by Peru’s Interior Minister, Wilfredo Pedraza; Minister of Energy and Mines, Jorge Merino; official of Canadian Commercial Corporation, Stan Jacobson, commercial counselor, Sandra Shaddick and business consultant, Katia Rivadeneyra. This year, Cateriano paid an official visit to Canada from February 28 to March 2, to deepen bilateral ties in security and defence ….”
“Some Canadian Forces members and veterans say the military culture needs to accept the usefulness of service dogs for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many former soldiers are now acquiring specially trained dogs to help them manage anxiety, anger and stressful situations. Jocelyn Boucher, who served as a warrant officer doing military intelligence in the Canadian Forces for three decades overseas, said he began taking his support dog, Spirit, to his part-time job only to be told a short time later his services were no longer needed. Boucher was under doctor’s instructions to limit his work to two half-days a week. He and his wife were surprised at his release, as he had recently signed on for three more months at two half-days a week. “I said, ‘Is this about my dog?’ He said, ‘No, no it’s not about your dog. It’s about the hours,’” Boucher said. His wife Theresa said she’s convinced he was let go because of the dog. She said the military culture needs to change ….”
“A sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy says she’s fighting two battles right now — one against breast cancer and another against the navy — over a disputed sick day last year. “I can’t put into words how it feels,” said Able Seaman Carol Anne Deyoung. “I feel somehow betrayed.” Deyoung said she felt a growing lump in her breast last June and called in sick. She was then ordered to go to a military hospital on Canadian Forces Base Stadacona in Halifax. She said she followed orders, but it took her two hours to get there. A month later, she was told she was being charged with two counts of disobeying a lawful command and one count of absence without leave ….” - more discussion of the case (or at least what we’re able to read of it to this point) at Milnet.ca here
“Charges of committing a terrorist hoax have been dropped against four people arrested last year when Montreal’s subway system was paralyzed at the height of rush hour by smoke-bomb attacks. Jean Pascal Boucher, a spokesman for the director of criminal and penal prosecutions, says the Crown decided there was insufficient evidence to support the charge. Three woman face charges of mischief and conspiracy while a man faces an additional charge of possession of a prohibited weapon. The four accused are free on bail pending their next court appearance on Sept. 3. At least three smoke bombs were tossed into several subway stations in Montreal on May 10, 2012, shutting down the entire system for hours during the key morning commute period ….”
“More Canadians say they are seeing unidentified flying objects than ever before, with 2012 numbers nearly doubling the record number of sightings recorded in previous years. In 2012, there were 1,981 sightings, nearly doubling the previous annual record of 1,004 sightings recorded in 2008. There were record numbers of UFOs reported in every province last year except for Saskatchewan and P.E.I. ….”

What’s Canada Buying? – May 16, 2013

milnewsca — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:00:25 +0000

“The Honourable Keith Ashfield, Minister for Fisheries and Oceans and Minister of Atlantic Gateway and Member of Parliament of the Federal Constituency of Fredericton, on behalf of The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, (yesterday) announced a contract award for Primary Care Paramedic training for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) medical technicians, and for the renovation and expansion of the Gagetown Military Family Resource Centre …. A contract has been awarded to Medavie HealthEd of Moncton, NB, to provide Primary Care Paramedic training for CAF medical technicians. The overall value of the contract is approximately $7.6 million for the initial two-year period, which may be followed by a three year option valued at $10 million. In addition, a contract of $1.89 million has been awarded to Simpson Building Contractors Limited, of Fredericton, NB, to renovate and expand Canadian Forces Base Gagetown’s Military Family Resource Centre. The Government of Canada conducted open, fair, and transparent competition processes to award these contracts ….”
“ITT Exelis (NYSE:XLS) won a contract by Raytheon U.K. and the Canadian Department of National Defence to deliver anti-jam GPS antenna arrays for several Canadian airborne military platforms. The N79 Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna (CRPA), to be used on fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, prevents deliberate jamming and unintentional interference of timing signals when integrated with anti-jam GPS systems, such as the Raytheon Navshield system …. The seven-element antenna enables warfighters to maintain accurate timing and to navigate closer to targets in the presence of up to six interference sources. Exelis has been producing the anti-jam GPS antenna in its integrated design and production facility in Bohemia, N.Y., since 2005.”
“…. This bid solicitation is being issued to satisfy the requirement of the Department of National Defence of Canada for the Miniature Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MUAS). It is intended to result in the award of two (2) contracts to one successful Bidder: the MUAS Acquisition Contract (MUAS-A) and the MUAS In Service Support Contract ( MUAS-S) ….” – more in bid document extract (63 page PDF) here
Wanted: someone to fix up Range #1 butts at CFB Shilo
Wanted: MORE work for Goose Bay! “…. The objective of this project is to have a Contractor design, build, install, maintain, operate and optimize five (5) Bioslurping Extraction Systems for the recovery of Liquid Petroleum Hydrocarbons (LPH), at Area D (three systems) and the Canadian Side Fire Fighter Training Area (2 systems), 5 Wing Goose Bay ….”

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – May 16, 2013

milnewsca — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:45:38 +0000

Afghanistan Canada officially declares Taliban, Haqqanis terrorists - more here and from the Public Safety Canada Info-machine here
Chris Karigiannis, 1975-2007, R.I.P. “It began as a touching gesture, with a group of students planting a tree at their school in memory of an alumnus, a Canadian soldier who had been killed in Afghanistan a year before. It was Nov. 11, 2008. It could have stopped there. Such well-meant tributes, born in the emotion of tragedy, often do. But in the years that followed, something absolutely remarkable happened at Laval Liberty High School in Laval. “The kids got it,” is how Daniel Johnson, a behavioural technician at the school, puts it . “They got that it was important what he (the soldier) did, that he had committed himself to a higher cause. “The kids said it can’t end there,” Johnson says. “They said we can’t care for him, but we can care for his friends. And that’s when everything changed.” The soldier was Sgt. Chris Karigiannis of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton. He had graduated from the school, when it was called Chomedy Polyvalent High School, in the early 1990s ….”
Way Up North (1) “The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and Minister for the Arctic Council, (yesterday) assumed the chairmanship of the Arctic Council for a two-year period, 2013-2015. The Arctic Council is the leading body for international cooperation in the Arctic region. “I am honoured to chair the Council at this important time in the history of the circumpolar region,” said Minister Aglukkaq. “Canada’s chairmanship theme of Development for the People of the North will put the interests of Northerners first.” Minister Aglukkaq thanked the Indigenous Permanent Participant organizations and Arctic Council states for their support for the program to be undertaken during the Canadian chairmanship and Sweden, in particular, for its strong guidance over the last two years. “Canada is determined to see Arctic communities benefit from the economic boom that is unfolding in the region,” said Minister Aglukkaq. “The Arctic Council will establish a circumpolar business forum to foster sustainable circumpolar economic development.” Following today’s signing by Arctic states of the Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response in the Arctic, the Council will focus during Canada’s chairmanship on actions to prevent oil spills in the Arctic marine environment ….” - more on the Arctic here, here and here.
Way Up North (2) “The Relay for Life is an international event that takes place each spring to raise funds and awareness for the Canadian Cancer Society. More than 20 countries from across and the world will participate this year. Last year, there were more than 17,000 teams across Canada and the Frozen Chosen are now, for a second year in a row, proud to be part of this global movement. Fundraising for The Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life has been enthusiastically embraced by all station personnel at Canadian Forces Station Alert. Throughout the spring months of 2013, the Alert family has come together in a unique show of solidarity to support this great cause. The Relay for Life in CFS Alert will take place on May 18 and 19 as a 12-hour fundraising event ….”
“On a windy hilltop, Don Tremblay was watching soldiers through binoculars and thinking back to another hilltop 60 years ago where a few young Canadians fought a desperate battle. wednesday was a chance for modern soldiers from the Royal Canadian Regiment to remember what Canadians went through in Korea, in what they now call the Battle of Hill 187. It began in the dark, when a Canadian patrol ran into a much larger group of Chinese soldiers in the valley between their two fortified hilltops ….”

What’s Canada Buying? – May 15, 2013

milnewsca — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:00:13 +0000

F-35 Tug o’ War (1) “One year after the Harper government committed to buying the F-35 fighter, defence planners overseeing the project expressed concern about how much it would cost to maintain the sophisticated jet once it arrived. Internal briefings released under the Access to Information Act show air force officials were worried in 2011 about the project’s “affordability,” and what it would do to future operation, maintenance and national procurement budgets. The Harper government announced in 2010 it had selected the F-35 as the country’s next manned fighter ….”
F-35 Tug o’ War (2) LockMart tries reimaging web page
Wanted: ATV, snowmobile rentals for Area Support Unit (ASU) Northern Ontario

MILNEWS.ca News Highlights – May 15, 2013

milnewsca — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:45:59 +0000

I’m back.
“The federal search and rescue system is back under the microscope after three military helicopters were unable to help rescue an Innu Nation leader who went into the water in Labrador on Wednesday because they were grounded for repairs. This comes one week after an auditor general’s report warned federal search and rescue (SAR) capabilities are at the break-i n g point, and after Newfound-land and Labrador’s emergency services minister said the feds weren’t doing enough. Former Innu Nation grand chief Joseph Riche was hunting with three other men on Park Lake about 80 kilometres southeast of Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Wednesday evening when the canoe he was in overturned, spilling him into the water. The Happy Valley-Goose Bay RCMP detachment was called, which kicked off a series of events that included National Defence being called upon to assist. But while there were three Griffon helicopters at nearby Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay, which CFB Goose Bay spokes-man Capt. Dave Bowen estimated as being about a 40-minute flight from Park Lake, all three were grounded for repairs. Bowen said one was going through a midterm refit, the second was undergoing modifications, and the third had been deemed unsafe to fly only a few days earlier because of a cracked windshield ….”
Shortly after the AG’s report…. “The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Lead Minister for Search and Rescue, today welcomed new funding for the Newfoundland and Labrador Search and Rescue Association as part of an $8.1 million federal investment in search and rescue prevention and response in Canada, through the Search and Rescue New Initiatives Fund ….”
Liberal Senator: “If Defence Minister Peter MacKay sometimes appears to be sleepwalking when addressing problems within Canada’s military infrastructure, I can assure you he has been incredibly active. MacKay has been busy perfecting a strategy called “the Nod-and-Dodge Defence.” It has nothing to do with defending the country and everything to do with defending himself. The minister’s black belt mastery of Nod-and-Dodge was front and centre earlier this month, as he defended the federal government’s continued neglect of Canada’s search and rescue capacity. Effective search and rescue (SAR) is vital in a country with a huge expanse of rough, remote terrain and frigid waters. About 20,000 people a year in Canada depend on quick and capable responses — from foundering fishermen to lost children, from downed pilots to missing boaters to avalanche survivors ….”
Afghanistan Australia’s CDS is in Brussels talking about the future of the AFG mission – wonder if our’s is too?
Mali “Canada will contribute an additional $10 million to help stabilization efforts in Mali. The new funds were announced as international donors prepare to meet this week in Brussels on how to rebuild the North African state. Mali fell into turmoil after a 2012 coup led to Islamic fighters taking over wide swaths of the north, prompting an international military force to intervene ….” More from the info-machine here.
Syria (1) “A coalition of aid groups launched a public campaign Tuesday to raise money for Syrian refugees, saying demand for assistance far outpaces global government donations. The Humanitarian Coalition said they believe Canadians want to support the estimated 6.8 million people affected by the ongoing civil war in Syria, but don’t know how. The Syrian-Canadian community has exhausted its resources to assist family members and churches and unions have tried to help as well, said Robert Fox, executive director for Oxfam Canada ….”
Syria (2) “Why we need to stay far, far away from Syria“
“Does A New Supreme Court Ruling Put Idle No More Protesters In Peril?”

Taking a break ….

milnewsca — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:00:03 +0000

…. for a few weeks to spend time with family – enjoy the Blogroll entries, and take care!

What’s Canada Buying? – April 13, 2013

milnewsca — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:00:44 +0000

F-35 Tug o’ War “Lockheed Martin made a stop in Winnipeg …. on its sophisticated road show across the country to promote the controversial F-35 Lightning fighter jet as part of its efforts to convince Canada to buy 65 of the fifth-generation stealth fighters. The company must report back to Ottawa with a status report on a seven-point plan by mid-May answering questions on things such as third-party oversight, alternatives and industrial participation in Canada. In Winnipeg, Magellan’s Aerospace’s Bristol Aerospace division may have more at stake than any other company in the country as far as industrial participation goes ….”
Big Honkin’ Ships Mark Collins on “RCN’s Arctic/Offshore Patrol Vessels: Neither Fish nor Cetacean”
“The federal government is set to spend up to $200,000 a year for an outside company to track all cyber attacks in Canada and rank how bad the attacks are relative to those in the rest of the world. The statement of work details precisely what the government requires. It says that the monthly, quarterly and annual reports needed should be “truly representative of the actual cyber threat activity around the world.” The reports would fill a blind spot in intelligence. Inside Public Safety Canada, the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre evaluates the seriousness of cyber-threats against Canadian systems and provides advice to average Canadians and businesses on how and what to protect themselves against. But CCIRC is only able to act on information it is provided from private companies; it does not monitor their networks for cyber incidents ….” – a bit more in the MERX posting here